Charlie Jane Anders

James Cameron is still neck-deep in perfecting his 3-D space masterpiece, Avatar. But work on his next project, a 3-D animated version of the classic manga Battle Angel, is already well underway as well. Concept artist Mark Goener gave an interview to 3-D movie blog MarketSaw, and talked about developing a unique look for this story of "cyber-youth in moral conflict." No images are available for Goerner's reimagining of Battle Angel yet, but it sounds fantastic. He's working with Martin Laing, who is one of my favorite production designers. (Laing worked on Titanic, City Of Ember, Terminator Salvation and the Abyss.) In Battle Angel, a scientist named Dr. Ido rescues a female cyborg, Alita, from a scrapheap in the 26th century. Dr. Ido becomes Alita's surrogate father and realizes that Alita is an "angel of death" who can break the cycle of death and destruction this post-apocalyptic world is stuck in, following a terrible war 300 years earlier. Goerner says he was intrigued by the themes of fatherhood, given how young Yukito Kishiro was when he started creating this series, as well as the "cyber-youth in moral conflict" aspect. And he said the story's quirks — it takes place during a cybernetic "dark age" following a super-advanced phase of civilization — help set it apart from the typical post-apocalyptic world. Purists beware — Goerner says flat out that the movie won't be aimed at fans of the graphic novels, who are a small percentage of the audience. Stuff will get lost in the translation to the screen, but the creators are working hard to keep the subtle personality and details of Alita and most of her supporting cast. It's not clear when Alita will actually hit the big screen — IMDB says 2011 — but let's keep our fingers crossed that it actually gets made. [MarketSaw via Cinemablend]